Russian 'assistance' in downing plane 'not ruled out'

The Malaysian Airliner which crashed in eastern Ukraine is likely to have been downed by a surface-to-air missile "operated from a separatist-held location in eastern Ukraine", a US envoy to the United Nations told Reuters.

"Because of the technical complexity of the SA-11 it is unlikely that the separatists could effectively operate the system without assistance from knowledgeable personnel, thus we cannot rule out technical assistance from Russian personnel in operating the system," US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power told the UN Security Council.